I'm new to WOTF, and to writing in general, but after getting SHM in Q2 I'm so stoked to try again! This contest is a bit addictive isn't it? Ok so I see people talking about DF's blog- is it the story doctor one? What other resources/critique groups do you guys use?

I'm working on revising a story I'd started on, the front 450 of which I bounced off Dustin a while back. Got swept up in other things, but kept thinking about his feedback, and the resulting revision (killing a transition) restaged the story and made the whole premise a lot more interesting...

So now, I have until the end of September to get it into some kind of decent order and try my hand again. Feels great to be back in the saddle for it!

Yikes. I've been dealing with other deadlines, but now a month has gone by, and look at all you busy bees! Good job!

I just had a vision of Darth Vader. He sucked on his regulator, stabbed a finger in my face and said, "I am here to put you back on schedule." I assured him I was working as fast as I can. "Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate you." And then he slid a torture device in front of me. "It's called a chair. Sit in it."

Wulf Moon wrote:Yikes. I've been dealing with other deadlines, but now a month has gone by, and look at all you busy bees! Good job!

I just had a vision of Darth Vader. He sucked on his regulator, stabbed a finger in my face and said, "I am here to put you back on schedule." I assured him I was working as fast as I can. "Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate you." And then he slid a torture device in front of me. "It's called a chair. Sit in it."

Oh no Wulf! Don't think of your creative writing space as a torture chamber! It should be more like your Naboo . . . except without the Trade Federation . . . or the Gungans.

Wulf Moon wrote:Yikes. I've been dealing with other deadlines, but now a month has gone by, and look at all you busy bees! Good job!

I just had a vision of Darth Vader. He sucked on his regulator, stabbed a finger in my face and said, "I am here to put you back on schedule." I assured him I was working as fast as I can. "Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate you." And then he slid a torture device in front of me. "It's called a chair. Sit in it."

Oh no Wulf! Don't think of your creative writing space as a torture chamber! It should be more like your Naboo . . . except without the Trade Federation . . . or the Gungans.

~Morgan

I appreciate it, Morgan. Of course, it was meant as a joke. : ) But the truth is, a chair is a torture device for me. I have to shut out the pain in my back and legs to sit and write, and when I get in the dream state, which is always the goal, I don't stand up like I should. There are times where my legs don't work at all from nerve compression, so I do need to pay attention. (You can read my article on the WotF blog if you wish to know more). Writing gives me great joy, wherever I do it, it's chairs that do not. Just something I must live with.

But meesa happy yousa want meesa to have mooey mooey good writing space!

I'm late getting into the game for Q4, but on my way! Finally finished a very rough draft during my lunch hour today. This one's going to be big, I fear, probably +10,000 words. A real monster.

Starting the first rewrite tomorrow, where I hope to start sticking blood and flesh on this skeleton. Then another rewrite to dress it in fancy clothes. Then probably one final pass to breathe life into it. "It's alive . . . it's alive!" in my best Gene Wilder voice.

I'll probably run right up against the deadline for this one and might not have time to send it out for a swap, but I'm happy to look at anything anyone else has and provide some feedback. Just let me know.

DoctorJest wrote:I'm working on revising a story I'd started on, the front 450 of which I bounced off Dustin a while back. Got swept up in other things, but kept thinking about his feedback, and the resulting revision (killing a transition) restaged the story and made the whole premise a lot more interesting...

So now, I have until the end of September to get it into some kind of decent order and try my hand again. Feels great to be back in the saddle for it!

Hi all. A quick question for off of you that have been published in the WOTF annual books. How different was your original story from the final published version? Did you find your stories required a lot of polishing/revision/editing? Or were there only minimal polishing edits??? (I'm gaging the standard for my Q3 entry. Looking back, I could have done a LOT better polishing it)

Henckel wrote:Hi all. A quick question for off of you that have been published in the WOTF annual books. How different was your original story from the final published version? Did you find your stories required a lot of polishing/revision/editing? Or were there only minimal polishing edits??? (I'm gaging the standard for my Q3 entry. Looking back, I could have done a LOT better polishing it)

Whaaat...? You mean you get to REVISE your story before it's actually published, if you're one of the quarterly winners?

I'm back after a long break. I needed a change of pace and enjoy catching up by reading forum posts. It's like visiting a faraway land and seeing what the questing knights are up to. I love reading about the March workshop and learning from the great gurus and folks going to the gala and winning the big award! So impressed at the talent that is here. I can only dream of doing better than an R, but... I need more imagination after spending a year getting a sciency article published (it's about snails and leeches in case you are wondering). So I've dusted off an old novel, cropped it at the first break and have been hard at work getting rid of extraneous words and characters that don't add to the plot or target climax. Sort of like word sculpting. I've determined that the piece does have a theme. I made it to 15,664 words and would love to get it under 14,000. I'm in no hurry, just really need to do something different. When it's late September and I can do nothing further with it, I'll enter it and see how it does.

Henckel wrote:Hi all. A quick question for off of you that have been published in the WOTF annual books. How different was your original story from the final published version? Did you find your stories required a lot of polishing/revision/editing? Or were there only minimal polishing edits??? (I'm gaging the standard for my Q3 entry. Looking back, I could have done a LOT better polishing it)

Minimal editing, for me. Mostly word choice and a couple descriptions. On the other hand I think some winners have been asked to add a scene to flesh out motivations, etc. I think you should assume that if the story wins it's probably good enough to be published as-is.

Henckel wrote:Hi all. A quick question for off of you that have been published in the WOTF annual books. How different was your original story from the final published version? Did you find your stories required a lot of polishing/revision/editing? Or were there only minimal polishing edits??? (I'm gaging the standard for my Q3 entry. Looking back, I could have done a LOT better polishing it)

Minimal editing, for me. Mostly word choice and a couple descriptions. On the other hand I think some winners have been asked to add a scene to flesh out motivations, etc. I think you should assume that if the story wins it's probably good enough to be published as-is.

Thanks KD. ... I was just wondering. ...so I'd know what to expect, should all the planets in all the star systems in the galaxy align and I should win.

I know I have a 800 word scene that needs completely cut and replaced by a couple paragraphs. And I totally referenced a character by the wrong name midway through the story, spoiling the reveal. Ha ha ha.

Henckel wrote:Hi all. A quick question for off of you that have been published in the WOTF annual books. How different was your original story from the final published version? Did you find your stories required a lot of polishing/revision/editing? Or were there only minimal polishing edits??? (I'm gaging the standard for my Q3 entry. Looking back, I could have done a LOT better polishing it)

Whaaat...? You mean you get to REVISE your story before it's actually published, if you're one of the quarterly winners?

~Morgan

Sort of?

If you think of this less as a contest and more of a market, then it's fairly common for there to be a copy edit/proof process. Editors sends notes in track changes, (for example, maybe the copy editor is concerned with how you chose to capitalize things in your magic system, maybe it's a comma splice). You get to evaluate those changes and accept them or defend why you want them to stay the same, and send back a final. They will send you a final proof. And then it's off to the printers.

My experience with WotF was sort of similar. DF sent me edits in track changes. Most were kind of minor. I guess I was kind of unclear with dialogue attributions, so he wanted me to tighten that up. The largest thing was that he asked me to include one paragraph (when Nya makes the person go crazy at the end, his note was something like "what is he showing her? Give me that.") I accepted all of his changes (which you are not obligated to do) and sent it back.

Anecdotally and without naming names I have heard of winners who had no or virtually no edits. I have heard of at least one winner that was asked to add a significant portion. So, honestly...